Uncovering the Truth About TV Returns After the Super Bowl

Super Bowl LII is coming up Feb 4 and 188.5 million people are expected to tune in to watch the Pats beat the Eagles, err, I mean watch a great game of football [edit: ok, we got that one wrong]. In addition to the snacks and team apparel/accessories, it’s a good bet that many of those viewers will be watching the game on a brand new TV. Television sales typically spike prior to the Super Bowl as retailers offer great deals and incentives to splurge on the newest models (like my favorite, a 65 inch OLED TV.) By the way, if you’re currently thinking of buying a new TV for the game, Amazon, B&H and Best Buy have all started their sales. Here’s a great list of promotions currently going on.

There is another, darker trend associated with the Super Bowl and television sales: wardrobing. It’s the practice of purchasing a TV, using it to watch the game, and then returning it to the store for a full refund. We looked back at TV return trends over the last few years and uncovered the following:

Between post-holiday and Super Bowl-related returns, January, February and March experience the highest amount of TV returns

In 2016 there was a 217% jump in in TV returns from Q4 to Q1

The most returned brand is VIZIO (it’s also one of the most purchased brands)

If you’re a CE or big box retailer, you know that TV returns are a big part of doing business and that processing a TV return back-on-shelf is a costly endeavor. Given the cost of re-processing and that open-box/light use televisions can’t be sold for full price, having a second channel and/or liquidation option that offsets substantial loss can be a better solution.

To learn more about B-Stock’s liquidation solution for TVs and other electronics—post Super Bowl—and all year long, please contact us. If you’re a small business looking to stock up on bulk quantities of open box or light use televisions – across all models – please visit our Sourcing marketplace.